Catalytic activity of unsupported gold nanoparticles

Abstract

[EN] This article reviews some of the compelling evidence showing that colloidal gold nanoparticles without any solid support exhibit intrinsic catalytic activity for some of the typical gold-catalyzed reactions including CO oxidation, aerobic oxidation of alcohols and diols, borohydride reductions and carbon-carbon cross coupling reaction among other reactions. A critical view of the state-of-the-art indicating open issues such as the role of the nature and concentration of the ligand and the possibility of preparing colloidal samples with preferential crystallographic planes is provided.